Piano at O’Hare??

ShiroKuro

I have the world’s longest layover today!! Anyone know if there’s a piano at O’Hare?
😅

rsl12

According to this, there is one at Gate C17.

ShiroKuro

Thanks!! Hmm that’s a different terminal … wonder if I should try to go. .. 😅

Gombessa

Every time I have this thought, I realize how far different terminals can be from each other 🙂

Sgisela

Did you go? The piano I remember at ohare is a baby grand Kimball, and it’s next to a bar:

https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/3241980/kimball-baby-grand-o-hare.html#Post3241980

Gombessa

Ah, now that I've seen the pic, I think it must have been JFK or Newark....there's a Kawai baby grand in the United terminal.

TheBoringPianist

I can confirm that as of June 30, 2024, that piano at C17 is still there (made the trek from T2 after arriving earlier than expected — as a bonus, got to go through the psychedelic Rhapsody in Blue tunnel on my way there).

As you can see from the photo, the placement of the piano itself was not what I would call conducive to playing if I value my physical safety, so I snapped a photo and went back to my own gate. Hope you had a safe flight @ShiroKuro!

Gombessa

TheBoringPianist

Oh yeah, I would hate to be sitting at that bar where those two people are, minding my own business when someone sits down to play....

ShiroKuro

I ended up not going, the airport is too big! But it’s probably for the best given where the piano is placed, it looks like a noisy spot.

Now it’s 4:30am and I’m awake in my hotel room because the AC sounds like a jet engine. (And this is supposed to be a “nice “ hotel 😥

Animisha

How bad to have noisy AC. You cannot turn it off?

ShiroKuro

Animisha so, funny thing. I turned off the AC in the middle of the night, but could still hear the AC units form the floors above and below! 😑

And then it got super hot so I turned it back on again. 😑

Sgisela

I can’t tell if the piano is in the same location as when I was last at O’hare, as there was no nearby carpeting when I was there last. However, there was a bar right next to the piano, and it may be the same bar. The two times I’ve been near that piano, it was cordoned off, so not inviting in any kind of way. And it is very exposed, so you’d have to be ok playing with the whole world walking by.

kanadajin

I wonder if it has a player mechanism inside - there seems to be an electrical power cord dandling underneath, but it does not appear to be plugged in at the time of the photo.

I agree, I would not be comfortable playing in such an environment either.

Gombessa

kanadajin I wonder if it has a player mechanism inside - there seems to be an electrical power cord dandling underneath, but it does not appear to be plugged in at the time of the photo.

Good eye! Found another picture and you're right, looks like it has a player system installed:

Well, turns out I'll be at O'Hare tomorrow and next week. Will try to scout it out and report back.

Sgisela

kanadajin Yes, it definitely has a player system installed, although the 2 times I’ve walked by, it was unplugged.

Also, they change the advertising wraps with some regularity. I wonder if they wrap it on site, because I would imagine it would not be cost-effective to pay for moving the piano each time it got re-wrapped.

Gombessa

I was at O'Hare earlier this week, but didn't see the piano (we were in Terminal 1, B Gates). Unfortunately, with the family there trying to get back and forth with luggage, there wasn't an opportunity to go scavenger hunting 🙂

ShiroKuro

I was in Indianapolis the other day, and stopped by a department store (Von Maur?) and there was a piano with a pianist playing in the center of the store. He was playing cocktail style, very nice! And although the piano wasn’t very big, the music expanded throughout the store quite nicely.

I didn’t want to leave!